Portable cooler

ABSTRACT

A portable cooler has a vertical rectangular insulated box. The vertical insulated box has a number of front doors and a lid. Inside the vertical insulated box are a number of distinct chambers and within the chambers are shelves. The vertical insulating box is attached to a dolly by a pair of stabilizing bars. The dolly has a pair of inflatable wheels offset from the vertical insulating box. A drain pipe connects a ice holding chamber with a drip pan.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority on and is a continuation-in-partof the patent application entitled “Portable Ice Box Picnic CoolerUpright with Wheels”, filed on Dec. 21, 2005, having Ser. No.11/221,907.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of coolers and moreparticularly to a portable cooler.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Coolers are used to store food, medicine and other items when arefrigerator or freezer is not available. Most coolers are justinsulated boxes that a user places ice and the items to be kept cold inthe same box. Unfortunately, this results in items being in directcontact with the ice. As a result, the items are difficult to store,organize and remove and may become soaked in water from the melting ice.In addition, most coolers are horizontal boxes which require the user tobend over to place items in the cooler or to remove items from thecooler.

Thus there exists a need for a cooler that does not allow the itemsbeing stored to become soaked in water and allows the cooler compartmentto be organized for easy storage and removal of items.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A cooler that overcomes these and other problems has a verticalrectangular insulated box. The vertical insulated box has a number offront doors and a lid. Inside the vertical insulated box are a number ofdistinct chambers and within the chambers are shelves. The verticalinsulating box is attached to a dolly by a pair of stabilizing bars. Thedolly has a pair of inflatable wheels offset from the verticalinsulating box. A drain pipe connects an ice holding chamber with a drippan. This prevents the ice from getting the items in the cooler wet andmakes it easier to place additional ice in the cooler. The items can beorganized on the shelves in the chamber of the cooler for easy storageand removal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top left perspective view of the portable cooler inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the portable cooler in accordance withone embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view with the lid removed of the portable cooler inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the portable cooler in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the frame of the portable cooler inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a front view of the vertical insulating box in accordance withone embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A portable cooler has a vertical rectangular insulated box. The verticalinsulated box has a number of front doors and a lid. Inside the verticalinsulated box are a number of distinct chambers and within the chambersare shelves. The vertical insulating box is attached to a dolly by apair of stabilizing bars. The dolly has a pair of inflatable wheelsoffset from the vertical insulating box. A drain pipe connects a iceholding chamber with a drip pan. This prevents the ice from getting theitems in the cooler wet and makes it easier to place additional ice inthe cooler. The items can be organized on the shelves in the chamber ofthe cooler for easy storage and removal. In one embodiment, the dolly isan integral part of the vertical insulating box.

FIG. 1 is a top left perspective view of the portable cooler 10 inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention. The portable cooler 10has vertical insulating compartment 12 with a plurality of front doors14, 16, 18. The insulating compartment 12 also has a top lid 20. The lid20 and front doors 14, 16, 18 have handles 22, 24, 26, 28. The verticalice box 12 is attached to a dolly 30. The vertical ice box 12 sits on aplatform 32 of the dolly. The stabilizing bars 34, 36, 38 are bolted tothe vertical ice box 12. The bolts (not shown) extend through bolt holes40, 42 of the stabilizing bars 34, 36 and into bolt holes 44, 46 in theice box 12. The dolly 30 has a pair of handles 48, 50 that facilitatemoving the vertical ice box 12. A pair of wheels 52, 54 are offset fromthe vertical ice box 12. The pair of wheels 52, 54 may be inflatable tofacilitate easier movement of the vertical ice box 12. Note that thevertical insulating box 12 may be made of plastic with insulationbetween the plastic walls, or may be made with metal walls withinsulation between the walls or the walls may be made of some otherstructural material. In one embodiment, the dolly is an integral part ofthe vertical insulating box.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the portable cooler 12 in accordance withone embodiment of the invention. Note that the dolly 30 is not shown inthe figure. The figure shows that the vertical insulating compartment 12has three chambers 60, 62, 64. The top chamber 60 is designed to holdice or dry ice. The center compartment 62 has a number of adjustableshelves 66 and drink holders 68 in the door 16. A drain pipe 70 shown indouble dashed lines connects the ice chamber 60 to a drain pan 72 in thebottom chamber 64. A hinge plate 74 may be used to attach the lid 20 tothe vertical insulating box 12.

FIG. 3 is a top view with the lid removed of the portable cooler 12 inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention. This figure shows topcompartment 60 which has a divider 61 that may be made of corrugatedtin. The divider 61 may have an opening 80 to allow for circulation ofair to facilitate cooling. The divider 61 may have a slight slope topush water towards the drain pipe 70. The vertical insulating box 12 maybe supported by frame 82, 84, 86. In one embodiment, the frame pieces82, 84, 86 are made of 2×2 and 2×4 wood boards. However, the inventionmay be constructed without this frame or with a different frame withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the portable cooler 12 in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. This figure shows the lid 20 closed andshows how the lid is held by hinges 90, 92 to the hinge plate 74. Notethat other hinge designs may be used that do not use the hinge plate 74as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the frame 100 of the portable cooler inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention. The frame 100 has a topframe portion 102 that may form the lid 20. The top frame portion 102 isattached to the body frame 104 by hinges 106, 108 and hinge plate 74.The body frame 104 has compartment frame dividers 110, 112 and has abase 112. A drip pan 72 fits on the base frame 114. A top door frame 116is attached to the body frame 104 by hinges 118. A middle door frame 120is attached to the body frame 104 by hinges 122. The bottom door frame124 is attached to the body frame 104 by hinges 126. A beverage tray 130attaches to the middle door 16. FIG. 6 is a front view of the verticalinsulating box 12 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

Thus there has been described a portable cooler that does not allow theitems being stored to become soaked in water and allows the coolercompartment to be organized for easy storage and removal of items.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with specificembodiments thereof, it is evident that many alterations, modifications,and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light ofthe foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace allsuch alterations, modifications, and variations in the appended claims.

1. A portable cooler, comprising: a vertical rectangular insulated box;a carrying frame having a pair of handles; and a pair of wheels attachedto the carrying frame.
 2. The cooler of claim 1, wherein the carryingframe has a stabilizing bar that is releasably attached to the verticalrectangular insulated box.
 3. The cooler of claim 2, wherein thevertical rectangular insulated box has a plurality of front doors. 4.The cooler of claim 3, wherein the vertical rectangular insulated boxhas a top lid.
 5. The cooler of claim 4, further including a pluralityof removable shelves inside the vertical rectangular insulated box. 6.The cooler of claim 1, further including a drain line between an uppercompartment and a catch pan of the vertical rectangular insolated box.7. The cooler of claim 6, wherein the pair of wheels are inflatablewheels.
 8. A portable cooler, comprising: a vertical insulatingcompartment; and a set of wheels to a side of the vertical insulatingcompartment.
 9. The cooler of claim 8, further including a frameattached to the set of wheels and the vertical insulating compartment.10. The cooler of claim 9, wherein the vertical insulating compartmenthas a plurality of front doors.
 11. The cooler of claim 10, wherein thevertical insulating compartment has a lid.
 12. The cooler of claim 11,wherein the vertical insulating compartment has a plurality of distinctchambers.
 13. The cooler of claim 12, further including a drain linebetween an upper chamber and a catch pan of the vertical rectangularinsolated box.
 14. The cooler of claim 13, wherein the wheels areinflatable.
 15. A portable cooler, comprising: a vertical ice box havinga plurality of front doors and a lid, the vertical ice box having aplurality of distinct chambers; a dolly having a pair of stabilizingbars attached to the vertical ice box.